Background and purpose: Based on thrombus location and nature and anatomic features of aorta and cerebral arteries, we hypothesized that cardiogenic embolisms (CE) and aortogenic embolisms (AE) might have different right-left propensity and lesion patterns.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with acute ischemic stroke with high-risk CE sources or moderate-or-severe aortic atherosclerotic plaques on transesophageal echocardiography. Lesion side and patterns on diffusion-weighted imaging were compared between CE and AE.
Results: CE was identified in 123 and AE in 63. In multivariate analysis, right-sided lesions and corticosubcortical infarcts were independently associated with CE, and left-sided lesions and pial infarcts were independently associated with AE.
Conclusions: CE and AE have different radiological characteristics, as shown by the right-left propensity and lesions patterns of cerebral infarcts.